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((Short description|Joining of two or more space vehicles))
((Use American English|date=November 2019))
((Use mdy dates|date=July 2022))
((Expand Chinese|date=June 2023|topic=sci))
((multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = Progress docking.jpg
| width1 = 200
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = Free-flying [[Progress (spacecraft)|Progress spacecraft]] in process of docking to the [[International Space Station]]
| image2 = COTS2 Dragon is berthed.jpg
| width2 = 200
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = [[SpaceX Dragon]] spacecraft attached to the [[Mobile Servicing System#Canadarm2|Canadarm2]] in preparation for berthing to the ISS
| footer = 
))

'''Docking and berthing of spacecraft''' is the joining of two [[spacecraft|space vehicles]]. This connection can be temporary, or [[wiktionary:semipermanent|partially permanent]] such as for space station modules.

''Docking'' specifically refers to joining of two separate free-flying space vehicles.<ref name=her>((cite web|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20110010964.pdf|title=ISS Interface Mechanisms and their Heritage|author1=John Cook|author2=Valery Aksamentov|author3=Thomas Hoffman|author4=Wes Bruner|date=1 Jan 2011|publisher=Boeing|access-date=31 March 2015|location=Houston, Texas|quote=Docking is when one incoming spacecraft rendezvous with another spacecraft and flies a controlled collision trajectory in such a manner so as to align and mesh the interface mechanisms. The spacecraft docking mechanisms typically enter what is called soft capture, followed by a load attenuation phase, and then the hard docked position which establishes an air-tight structural connection between spacecraft. Berthing, by contrast, is when an incoming spacecraft is grappled by a robotic arm and its interface mechanism is placed in close proximity of the stationary interface mechanism. Then typically there is a capture process, coarse alignment and fine alignment and then structural attachment.))</ref><ref name="nasa20090317">((cite web |title=International Docking Standardization |url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20090014038_2009013104.pdf |publisher=NASA |access-date=2011-03-04 |page=15|date=2009-03-17 |quote=Docking: The joining or coming together of two separate free flying space vehicles))</ref><ref name=ARDS>((cite book|last=Fehse|first=Wigbert|title=Automated Rendezvous and Docking of Spacecraft|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, UK|date=2003|isbn=978-0521824927))</ref><ref name="AdvanDock">((cite web|title=Advanced Docking/Berthing System – NASA Seal Workshop |url=http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov/reports/2005/CP-2005-213655-VOL1/15Robertson.pdf |publisher=NASA |access-date=2011-03-04 |page=15 |date=2004-11-04 |quote=Berthing refers to mating operations where an inactive module/vehicle is placed into the mating interface using a Remote Manipulator System-RMS. Docking refers to mating operations where an active vehicle flies into the mating interface under its own power. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110922084406/http://gltrs.grc.nasa.gov/reports/2005/CP-2005-213655-VOL1/15Robertson.pdf |archive-date=September 22, 2011 ))</ref> ''Berthing'' refers to mating operations where a passive<!-- inactive --> module/vehicle is placed into the mating interface of another space vehicle by using a [[robotic arm]].<ref name=her/><ref name=ARDS/><ref name=AdvanDock/> Because the modern process of un-berthing requires more crew labor and is time-consuming, berthing operations are unsuited for rapid crew evacuations in the event of an emergency.<ref>((Cite news |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2015/02/astronauts-spacewalk-re-wire-iss-commercial-crew/ |title=EVA-30 concludes latest ISS commercial crew preparations |work=[[NASASpaceFlight.com]] |date=February 25, 2015|author=Pete Harding|access-date=April 9, 2023 ))</ref>

==History==

===Docking===
((More citations needed section|date=October 2018)) 
[[File:Gemini 8 docking.jpg|thumb| The first spacecraft docking was performed between [[Gemini 8]] and an uncrewed [[Agena Target Vehicle]] on March 16, 1966.]]
Spacecraft docking capability depends on [[space rendezvous]], the ability of two spacecraft to find each other and [[orbital station-keeping|station-keep in the same orbit]]. This was first developed by the United States for [[Project Gemini]]. It was planned for the crew of [[Gemini 6A|Gemini 6]] to rendezvous and manually dock under the command of [[Wally Schirra]], with an uncrewed [[Agena Target Vehicle]] in October 1965, but the Agena vehicle exploded during launch. On the revised mission Gemini 6A, Schirra successfully performed a rendezvous in December 1965 with the crewed [[Gemini 7]], approaching to within ((convert|1|ft|m|order=flip|sigfig=1)), but there was no docking capability between two Gemini spacecraft. The first docking with an Agena was successfully performed under the command of [[Neil Armstrong]] on [[Gemini 8]] on March 16, 1966. Manual dockings were performed on three subsequent Gemini missions in 1966.

The [[Apollo program]] depended on [[lunar orbit rendezvous]] to achieve its objective of landing men on the Moon. This required first a [[transposition, docking, and extraction]] maneuver between the [[Apollo command and service module]] (CSM) mother spacecraft and the [[Apollo Lunar Module|Lunar Module]] (LM) landing spacecraft, shortly after both craft were sent out of Earth orbit on a path to the Moon. Then after completing the lunar landing mission, two astronauts in the LM had to rendezvous and dock with the CSM in lunar orbit, in order to be able to return to Earth. The spacecraft were designed to permit intra-vehicular crew transfer through a tunnel between the nose of the Command Module and the roof of the Lunar Module. These maneuvers were first demonstrated in [[low Earth orbit]] on March 7, 1969, on [[Apollo 9]], then in lunar orbit in May 1969 on [[Apollo 10]], then in six lunar landing missions, as well as on [[Apollo 13]] where the LM was used as a rescue vehicle instead of making a lunar landing.

Unlike the United States, which used manual piloted docking throughout the Apollo, [[Skylab]], and [[Space Shuttle]] programs, the Soviet Union employed automated docking systems from the beginning of its docking attempts. The first such system, [[Igla (spacecraft docking system)|Igla]], was successfully tested on October 30, 1967 when the two uncrewed [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz]] test vehicles [[Kosmos 186]] and [[Kosmos 188]] docked automatically in orbit.<ref name=MirHH>((cite web |title=Mir Hardware Heritage Part 1: Soyuz |url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/documentation/mhh/mirhh-part1.pdf |publisher=NASA |access-date=3 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226011559/https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4225/documentation/mhh/mirhh-part1.pdf |archive-date=26 December 2017 |page=10))</ref><ref>((cite web|url=http://www.niitp.ru/en/directions/02/history/ |access-date=June 23, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080424051917/http://www.niitp.ru/en/directions/02/history/ |archive-date=April 24, 2008|title=History))</ref> This was the first successful Soviet docking. Proceeding to crewed docking attempts, the Soviet Union first achieved rendezvous of [[Soyuz 3]] with the uncrewed [[Soyuz 2]] craft on October 25, 1968; docking was unsuccessfully attempted. The first crewed docking was achieved on January 16, 1969, between [[Soyuz 4]] and [[Soyuz 5]].<ref name="MAAS Collection">((cite web | title=Model of a Soyuz-4-5 spacecraft | website=MAAS Collection | url=https://collection.maas.museum/object/157010 | access-date=Oct 22, 2021))</ref> This early version of the [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz spacecraft]] had no internal transfer tunnel, but two cosmonauts performed an [[extravehicular activity|extravehicular]] transfer from Soyuz 5 to Soyuz 4, landing in a different spacecraft than they had launched in.<ref name="NASA">((cite web | title=NSSDCA – Spacecraft – Details | website=NASA | url=https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/nmc/spacecraft/display.action?id=1969-004A | language=no | access-date=Oct 22, 2021))</ref>

In the 1970s, the Soviet Union upgraded the Soyuz spacecraft to add an internal transfer tunnel and used it to transport cosmonauts during the [[Salyut]] space station program with the first successful space station visit beginning on 7 June 1971, when [[Soyuz 11]] docked to [[Salyut 1]]. The United States followed suit, docking its Apollo spacecraft to the [[Skylab]] space station in May 1973. In July 1975, the two nations cooperated in the [[Apollo-Soyuz Test Project]], docking an Apollo spacecraft with a Soyuz using a specially designed docking module to accommodate the different docking systems and spacecraft atmospheres.

Beginning with [[Salyut 6]] in 1978, the Soviet Union began using the uncrewed [[Progress (spacecraft)|Progress]] cargo spacecraft to resupply its space stations in low earth orbit, greatly extending the length of crew stays. As an uncrewed spacecraft, Progress rendezvoused and docked with the space stations entirely automatically. In 1986, the Igla docking system was replaced with the updated [[Kurs (docking navigation system)|Kurs system]] on Soyuz spacecraft. Progress spacecraft received the same upgrade several years later.<ref name=MirHH />((rp|7))  The Kurs system is still used to dock to the [[Russian Orbital Segment]] of the [[International Space Station]].

===Berthing===
[[File:HST_Flight_Support_Structure_(STS-109).jpg|thumb|right|Flight Support Structure in ''Columbia''(('s)) payload bay under the 180 degree mark on the -V3 plane of the Hubble Space Telescope during [[STS-109]].]]Berthing of spacecraft can be traced at least as far back as the berthing of payloads into the Space Shuttle payload bay.<ref>((cite web|url=http://everyspec.com/NASA/NASA-NSTS-ISS-PUBS/NSTS_21492_2333/|title=NSTS 21492 Space Shuttle Program Payload Bay Payload User's Guide (Basic)))(Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston Texas, 2000)</ref> Such payloads could be either free-flying spacecraft captured for maintenance/return, or payloads temporarily exposed to the space environment at the end of the [[Canadarm|Remote Manipulator System]].  Several different berthing mechanisms were used during the Space Shuttle era.  Some of them were features of the Payload Bay (e.g., the Payload Retention Latch Assembly), while others were airborne support equipment (e.g., the Flight Support Structure used for [[Hubble Space Telescope#Servicing missions and new instruments|HST servicing missions]]).

==Hardware==

===Androgyny===
((Wiktionary|androgynous))

Docking/berthing systems may be either androgynous ([[hermaphroditic connector|ungendered]]) or non-androgynous ([[gender of connectors and fasteners|gendered]]), indicating which parts of the system may mate together.

Early systems for conjoining spacecraft were all non-androgynous docking system designs. Non-androgynous designs are a form of ''gender mating''<ref name="nasa20090317" /> where each spacecraft to be joined has a unique design (male or female) and a specific role to play in the docking process. The roles cannot be reversed. Furthermore, two spacecraft of the same gender cannot be joined at all.

Androgynous docking (and later androgynous berthing) by contrast has an identical interface on both spacecraft. In an androgynous interface, there is a single design which can connect to a duplicate of itself. This allows system-level [[Redundancy (engineering)|redundancy]] (role reversing) as well as rescue and collaboration between any two spacecraft. It also provides more flexible mission design and reduces unique mission analysis and training.<ref name="nasa20090317" />

=== List of mechanisms/systems ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Image
! Name
! Method
! Internal crew transfer
! Notes
! Type
|-
| [[File:Gemini Docking Mechanism diagram view2.png|120px]]
| [[Gemini Docking Mechanism]]
| Docking
| No
| Allowed the [[Project Gemini#Spacecraft|Gemini Spacecraft]] (active) to dock to the [[Agena target vehicle]] (passive).
| Non-Androgynous
|-
| [[File:S68-50869.jpg|120px]]
| [[Apollo Docking Mechanism]]
| Docking
| Yes
| Allowed the [[Apollo Command/Service Module|Command/Service Module]] (active) to dock to the [[Apollo Lunar Module]]<ref>[http://dockingstandard.nasa.gov/Documents/US%20Docking%20History%20Poster%20(2).ppt History of U.S. Docking Systems (10/05/2010)]  ((webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524050255/http://dockingstandard.nasa.gov/Documents/US%20Docking%20History%20Poster%20%282%29.ppt |date=May 24, 2011 ))</ref> (passive) and the [[Skylab]] space station (passive). Was used to dock to the Docking Module adapter (passive) during the [[Apollo–Soyuz Test Project]] (ASTP), which enabled the crew to dock with a Soviet [[Soyuz 7K-TM]] spacecraft. It had a circular pass through diameter of ((convert|32|in|mm|order=flip|abbr=on)).<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.siamoandatisullaluna.com/images/download/NASA-Apollo9PressKit.pdf|title=Apollo 9 Press Kit|date=23 Feb 1969|publisher=NASA|pages=43|access-date=17 March 2015|quote=The tunnel is 32 inches (.81 cm) in diameter and is used for crew transfer between the CSM and LM by crewmen in either pressurized or unpressurized extravehicular mobility units (EMU).))</ref><ref>((cite book|last=Harland|first=David|title=Apollo 12 – On the Ocean of Storms: On the Ocean of Storms|publisher=Springer|location=New York|date=2011|pages=138))</ref> <!--Wasn't the transfer passage D-shaped?-->
| Non-Androgynous
|-
| [[File:Soyuz 7K-OK docking system drawing.png|120px]]
| Original Russian probe and drogue docking system
| Docking
| No
| The original Soyuz probe-and-drogue docking system was used with the first generation [[Soyuz 7K-OK]] spacecraft from 1966 <!--Kosmos 133--> until 1970<!--Soyuz 9--> in order to gather engineering data as a preparation for the Soviet space station program. The gathered data were subsequently used for the conversion of the Soyuz spacecraft – which was initially developed for the [[Soviet crewed lunar programs|Soviet crewed lunar program]] – into a space station transport craft.<ref name="her" /><!--From the heritage document: "The Original Soyuz survived the Moon program to become the ancestor of all subsequent Soyuz and Soyuz-derived craft. Spacecraft designer Konstantin Feoktistov stated that the Original Soyuz missions in 1966-1970 provided engineering data for its conversion into a space station transport." -->
A first docking with two uncrewed Soyuz spacecraft – the first fully automated space docking in the history of space flight – was made with the [[Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188]] missions on October 30, 1967.
| Non-Androgynous
|-
| [[File:Kontakt docking system.png|120px]]
| Kontakt docking system
| Docking
| No
| Intended to be used in the [[Soviet crewed lunar programs|Soviet crewed lunar program]] to allow the [[Soyuz 7K-LOK]] ("Lunar Orbital Craft", active) to dock to the [[LK (spacecraft)|LK lunar lander]] (passive).<ref name=Mir/>
| Non-Androgynous
|-
| [[File:Russian drogue.jpg|65px]][[File:Russian probe extended.jpg|73px]]
| [[SSVP docking system|SSVP-G4000]]
| Docking
| Yes
| SSVP-G4000 is also known more vaguely as the Russian ''probe and drogue'' or simply the Russian Docking System (RDS).<ref name=her/><ref name=ESARDS>((cite web|url=http://www.congrex.nl/08a11/presentations/day1_S02/S02_03_Cislaghi.pdf |title=The Russian Docking System and the Automated Transfer Vehicle: a safe integrated concept |author=M.Cislaghi |author2=C.Santini |date=October 2008 |publisher=ESA |access-date=14 May 2016 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130203014131/http://www.congrex.nl/08a11/presentations/day1_S02/S02_03_Cislaghi.pdf |archive-date=February 3, 2013 ))</ref> In Russian, SSVP stands for [[Sistema Stykovki i Vnutrennego Perekhoda]], literally "System for docking and internal transfer".<ref name=rswDOCK>((cite web|title=Docking Systems|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/docking.html|website=RussianSpaceWeb.com|access-date=2 September 2012))</ref>
It was used for the first docking to a space station in the history of space flight, with the [[Soyuz 10]] and [[Soyuz 11]] missions that docked to the Soviet space station [[Salyut 1]] in 1971.<ref name=her/><ref name=ESARDS/> The docking system was upgraded in the mid-1980s to allow the docking of 20 ton modules to the [[Mir]] space station.<ref name="rswDOCK" /> It has a circular transfer passage that has a diameter of ((convert|800|mm|in|abbr=on)) and is manufactured by RKK Energiya.<ref name="ARDS" /><ref name="AdvanDock" /><ref name="rswDOCK" />

The probe-and-drogue system allows visiting spacecraft using the probe docking interface, such as [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz]], [[Progress (spacecraft)|Progress]] and ESA's [[Automated Transfer Vehicle|ATV]] spacecraft, to dock to space stations that offer a port with a drogue interface, like the former [[Salyut program|Salyut]] and [[Mir]] or the current [[ISS]] space station. There are a total of four such docking ports available on the [[Russian Orbital Segment]] of ISS for visiting spacecraft; These are located on the Zvezda, Rassvet, Pirs and Poisk modules.<ref name="rswDOCK" />
Furthermore, the probe-and-drogue system was used on the ISS to dock [[Rassvet (ISS module)|Rassvet]] semipermanently to Zarya.<ref name="her" />
| Non-Androgynous
|-
| [[File:APAS-75 image cropped and rotated.jpg|80px|center]]
| [[Androgynous Peripheral Docking System#APAS-75|APAS-75]]
| Docking
| Yes
| Used on the [[Apollo-Soyuz Test Project]] Docking Module and [[Soyuz 7K-TM]]. There were variations in design between the American and Soviet version but they were still mechanically compatible.
| Androgynous
|-
| [[File:APAS-89 forward docking mechanism on Kristall.jpg|62px]][[File:APAS-89 active - drawing.png|85px]]
| [[Androgynous Peripheral Docking System#APAS-89|APAS-89]]
| Docking
| Yes
| Used on Mir ([[Kristall]],<ref name="Mir">((cite web|url=http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/RP1357.pdf |title=Mir Hardware Heritage |last=Portree |first=David |date=March 1995 |publisher=NASA |access-date=11 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090907191412/http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/_techrep/RP1357.pdf |archive-date=7 September 2009 ))</ref><ref name="sovietspaceshuttledockingmodule">((cite book|author1=Bart Hendrickx |author2=Bert Vis |title=Energiya-Buran: The Soviet Space Shuttle|publisher=Praxis Publishing Ltd.|location=Chichester, UK|year=2007|pages=379–381|isbn=978-0-387-69848-9|quote=For space station missions Buran would have carried a Docking Module (SM) in the forward part of the payload bay. It consisted of a spherical section (2.55 m in diameter) topped with a cylindrical tunnel (2.2 m in diameter) with an APAS-89 androgynous docking port, a modified version of the APAS-75 system developed by NPO Energiya for the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (Page 141). The plan was for the orbiter to be launched uncrewed and fly to the Mir space station, where it would dock with the axial APAS-89 docking port of the Kristall module (Page 246). In the late 1980s NPO Energiya was ordered to build three Soyuz spacecraft (serial numbers 101, 102, 103) with APAS-89 docking ports (Page 246). Soyuz craft nr. 101 was eventually launched as Soyuz TM-16 on January 1993, carrying another resident crew (Gennadiy Manakov and Aleksandr Poleshchuk) to Mir space station. Equipped with an APAS-89 docking port, it was the only Soyuz vehicle to ever docking with the Kristall module. Soyuz "rescue" vehicle nr. 102 and 103, which had only been partially assembled, were modified as ordinary Soyuz TM spacecraft with standard probe docking mechanisms and were given new serial numbers (Page 249). In July 1992 NASA initiated the development of the Orbiter Docking System (ODS) to support Shuttle flights to Mir. Mounted in the forward end of the payload bay, the ODS consists of an external airlock, a supporting truss structure, and an APAS docking port. While the first two elements were built by Rockwell, the APAS was manufactured by RKK Energiya. Although Energiya's internal designator for the Shuttle APAS is APAS-95, it is essentially the same as Buran's APAS-89. While the ODS was slightly modified for Shuttle missions to ISS, APAS remained unchanged (Page 380).|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VRb1yAGVWNsC&q=%22APAS-95%22+nasa))</ref> [[Mir Docking Module]]), [[Soyuz TM-16]],<ref name=Mir/><ref name="sovietspaceshuttledockingmodule" /> [[Buran (spacecraft)|Buran]] (was planned).<ref name="sovietspaceshuttledockingmodule"/> It had a circular transfer passage with a diameter of ((convert|800|mm|in|abbr=on)).<ref name="her" /><ref name="ARDS" /><ref name="AdvanDock" />
| Androgynous (Soyuz TM-16), Non-Androgynous (Kristall,<ref name="kristall">((Cite web|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/mir_kristall.html|title=Kristall module (77KST)|website=www.russianspaceweb.com))</ref> Mir Docking Module<ref name="sts-74press">((cite web|url=http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/sts-74/sts74.pdf|title=Space Shuttle Mission STS-74 Press Kit|publisher=NASA|access-date=28 December 2011|quote=Atlantis will carry the Russian-built Docking Module, which has multi-mission androgynous docking mechanisms at top and bottom))</ref>)
|-
| [[File:APAS-95 passive side.jpg|62px]][[File:APAS-95 active side.jpg|85px]]
| [[Androgynous Peripheral Docking System#APAS-95|APAS-95]]
| Docking
| Yes
| It was used for [[Space Shuttle]] dockings to Mir and ISS,<ref name="sovietspaceshuttledockingmodule"/> On the ISS, it was also used on Zarya module, [[Russian Orbital Segment]] to interface with PMA-1 on Unity module, [[US Orbital Segment]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20000817055811/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/spacenews/factsheets/pdfs/unity.pdf NASA.gov]</ref> It has a diameter of ((convert|800|mm|in|abbr=on)).<ref name=her/><ref name=ARDS/><ref name=AdvanDock/> Described as "essentially the same as" APAS-89.<ref name="sovietspaceshuttledockingmodule"/> 
| Androgynous (Shuttle, Zarya((citation needed|date=May 2017)) and PMA-1<ref name=her/>), Non-Androgynous (PMA-2 and PMA-3)<ref name="her" />
|-
| [[File:Passive hybrid docking system - from another angle.jpg|70px]][[File:ISS S01 Pirs airlock cropped.jpg|74px]]
| SSVP-M8000 ([[Sistema Stykovki i Vnutrennego Perekhoda#Hybrid|Hybrid Docking System]])
| Docking
| Yes
| SSVP-M8000 or more commonly known as "hybrid", is a combination of a "probe and drogue" soft-dock mechanism with an APAS-95 hard-dock collar.<ref name=rswDOCK/> It began to be manufactured in 1996.<ref name=rswDOCK/> It is manufactured by RKK Energiya.<ref name=rswDOCK/> <!-- It has a circular transfer passage that has a diameter of ((convert|1100|mm|in|abbr=on)). -->

Used on ISS (connects [[Zvezda (ISS module)|Zvezda]] to [[Zarya (ISS module)|Zarya]], [[Pirs (ISS module)|Pirs]], [[Poisk (ISS module)|Poisk]]<ref name="her" /> [[Nauka (ISS module)|Nauka]]<ref name=nsf20210729>((cite news |title=MLM Nauka docks to ISS, malfunctions shortly thereafter |url=https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2021/07/nauka-docking/ |last=Harding|first=Pete |work=[[NASASpaceFlight]] |date=29 July 2021 |access-date=30 July 2021))</ref> and Nauka to [[Prichal (ISS module)|Prichal]])
| Non-Androgynous
|-
| [[File:COTS2Dragon CBM.jpg|84px]][[File:Common Berthing Mechanism with micrometeorite layer.jpg|73x73px]]
| [[Common Berthing Mechanism]]
| Berthing
| Yes
| Used on [[ISS]] ([[US Orbital Segment|USOS]]), [[Multi-Purpose Logistics Module|MPLMs]], [[H-II Transfer Vehicle|HTV]], [[SpaceX Dragon 1]],<ref>((cite news|url=https://spaceflightnow.com/falcon9/003/120521dragon/|title=Tests of new Dragon systems to begin minutes after launch|author=Stephen Clark|website=Spaceflight Now|date=February 25, 2015|access-date=April 9, 2023))</ref> [[Cygnus spacecraft|Cygnus]]. The standard CBM has a pass through in the shape of a square with rounded edges and has a width of ((convert|50|in|mm|order=flip|abbr=on)).<ref name=AdvanDock/> The smaller hatch that Cygnus uses results in a transfer passage of the same shape but has a width of ((convert|37|in|mm|order=flip|abbr=on)).<ref>((cite web|url=http://www.orbital.com/antares-cygnus/ |title=Cygnus Pressurized Cargo Module Completes Proof-Pressure Testing |date=August 2010 |publisher=Orbital Sciences |quote=The PCM hatch has a strong resemblance to the current hatches used on the US-segment of the ISS. However, at 37 inches on each side, it is somewhat smaller than the 50 inch ISS hatch. |access-date=16 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130417064631/http://www.orbital.com/antares-cygnus/ |archive-date=April 17, 2013 ))</ref>
| Non-Androgynous
|-
| [[File:CMS docking device at NMC.jpg|140px]]
| [[Chinese Docking Mechanism]]
| Docking
| Yes
| Used by [[Shenzhou (spacecraft)|Shenzhou spacecraft]], beginning with Shenzhou 8, to dock to Chinese space stations. The Chinese docking mechanism is based on the Russian APAS-89/APAS-95 system; some have called it a "clone".<ref name=her/> There have been contradicting reports by the Chinese on its compatibility with APAS-89/95.<ref name=":0">((cite web|url=http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110801-china-space-station-module-readies.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120917201507/http://www.spacenews.com/civil/110801-china-space-station-module-readies.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 17, 2012|title=China's First Space Station Module Readies for Liftoff|date=1 August 2012|publisher=Space News|access-date=3 September 2012))</ref> It has a circular transfer passage that has a diameter of ((convert|800|mm|in|abbr=on)).<ref name=":1">((cite web|url=http://english.cntv.cn/special/tiangong1/20111031/114506.shtml|title=Differences between Shenzhou-8 and Shenzhou-7|date=31 October 2011|publisher=CCTV|access-date=17 March 2015|quote=there will be an 800-millimetre cylindrical passage connecting Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328155831/http://english.cntv.cn/special/tiangong1/20111031/114506.shtml|archive-date=28 March 2016|url-status=dead))</ref><ref name=":2">((cite web|url=http://spaceflightnow.com/china/shenzhou9/120618docking/|title= Chinese astronauts open door on orbiting research lab|last=Clark|first=Stephen|date=18 June 2012|publisher=Spaceflight Now|access-date=17 March 2015|quote=Jing floated through the narrow 31-inch passage leading into Tiangong 1))</ref> The androgynous variant has a mass of 310&nbsp;kg and the non-androgynous variant has a mass of 200&nbsp;kg.<ref name=":3">((cite magazine|author=Qiu Huayon|author2=Liu Zhi|author3=Shi Junwei|author4=Zheng Yunqing|date=August 2015|page=12|title=Birth of the Chinese Docking System|journal=Go Taikonauts! |issue=16))</ref>

Used for the first time on [[Tiangong 1]] space station and will be used on future Chinese space stations and with future Chinese cargo resupply vehicles.
| Androgynous (Shenzhou)<br />Non-Androgynous (Tiangong-1)
|-
| [[File:Chang'e_5_docking_(20).png|140px]]
| [[Chinese Docking Mechanism]]
| Grappling-type
| No
| Used for [[China]]'s [[uncrewed]] [[sample return mission]]s when ascender transfers samples to orbiter for Earth return such as [[Chang'e 5]]/[[Chang'e 6|6]].
| Non-Androgynous
|-
| [[File:NDS docking tests.jpg|140px|alt=]]
| [[International Docking System Standard]] (IDSS)
| Docking or Berthing
| Yes
| Used on the ISS [[International Docking Adapter]], [[SpaceX Dragon 2]], [[Boeing Starliner]] and future vehicles. Circular transfer passage diameter is ((convert|800|mm|in|abbr=on)).<ref name=IDSS>((cite book|title=International Docking System Standard|date=November 20, 2013|edition=Rev. C|url=http://internationaldockingstandard.com/download/IDSS_IDD_Rev_C_11_22_13_FINAL.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216200055/http://internationaldockingstandard.com/download/IDSS_IDD_Rev_C_11_22_13_FINAL.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 16, 2013))</ref> The [[International Berthing and Docking Mechanism]] (IBDM) is an implementation of IDSS to be used on [[European Space Agency]] spacecraft. <ref name=nasa20140319>((cite web |title=Status of Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEO) |url=http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/HEOC_HEOStatus_July2013_TAGGED.pdf |publisher=NASA |access-date=2014-03-19 |date=2013-07-29 |archive-date=August 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210805121515/http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/HEOC_HEOStatus_July2013_TAGGED.pdf |url-status=dead ))</ref> IBDM will also be used on [[Dream Chaser]].<ref>((cite web|title=QinetiQ Space Wins ESA Contract for International Berthing Docking Mechanism|url=http://spaceref.biz/company/qinetiq-space-wins-esa-contract-for-international-berthing-docking-mechanism.html|website=Space Ref Business|access-date=January 9, 2015|archive-date=September 6, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906003123/http://spaceref.biz/company/qinetiq-space-wins-esa-contract-for-international-berthing-docking-mechanism.html|url-status=dead))</ref>
| Active, Passive, or Androgynous (i.e., both). Active([[Commercial Crew Development|Commercial Crew Vehicle]], Orion);<br />Passive ([[International Docking Adaptor|IDA]])
|-
|[[File:AS-G passive.png|65px]]
[[File:AS-G Active.jpg|left|73px]]
|[[Androgynous Peripheral Docking System#ASA-G/ASP-G|ASA-G/ASP-G]]
|Berthing
|Yes
|Used by [[Nauka (ISS module)#Science (or Experiment) Airlock|Nauka Science (or Experiment) Airlock]], to berth to [[Nauka (ISS module)|nauka forward port]]. The berthing mechanism is a unique hybrid derivative the Russian APAS-89/APAS-95 system as it has 4 petals instead of 3 along with 12 structural hooks and is a combination of an active "probe and drogue" soft-dock mechanism on port and passive target on airlock.
|Non-Androgynous 
|-
|
| SSPA-GB 1/2 ([[Sistema Stykovki i Vnutrennego Perekhoda#Hybrid|Hybrid Docking System]])
| Docking
| Yes
| It is a modified passive hybrid version of SSVP-M8000.
Used on ISS ([[Prichal (ISS module)|Prichal]] lateral ports for future add-on modules)
| Non-Androgynous
|}

=== Adapters ===
A docking or berthing adapter is a mechanical or electromechanical device that facilitates the connection of one type of docking or berthing interface to a different interface. While such interfaces may theoretically be docking/docking, docking/berthing, or berthing/berthing, only the first two types have been deployed in space to date. Previously launched and planned to be launched adapters are listed below:

* ASTP Docking Module: An airlock module that converted U.S. Probe and Drogue to [[Androgynous Peripheral Attach System|APAS-75]]. Built by [[Rockwell International]] for the 1975 [[Apollo–Soyuz Test Project]] mission.<ref name=ASTP>((cite web|url=http://www.astronautix.com/a/apolloastpdockingmodule.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161227202153/http://astronautix.com/a/apolloastpdockingmodule.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 27, 2016 |title=Apollo ASTP Docking Module |access-date=7 April 2018 |publisher=Astronautix))</ref>
* [[Pressurized Mating Adapter|Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)]]: Converts an active [[Common Berthing Mechanism]] to [[Androgynous Peripheral Attach System#APAS-95|APAS-95]]. Three PMAs are attached to the [[ISS]], PMA-1 and PMA-2 were launched in 1998 on [[STS-88]], PMA-3 in late 2000 on [[STS-92]]. PMA-1 is used to connect the Zarya control module with Unity node 1, Space Shuttles used PMA-2 and PMA-3 for docking.
* [[International Docking Adapter|International Docking Adapter (IDA)]]:<ref name=Hartman>((cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/672214main_1-Hartman_July12_NAC_Final_508.pdf|title=International Space Station Program Status|last=Hartman|first=Dan|date=23 July 2012|publisher=NASA|access-date=10 August 2012|archive-date=April 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130407033118/http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/672214main_1-Hartman_July12_NAC_Final_508.pdf|url-status=dead))</ref> Converts [[Androgynous Peripheral Attach System#APAS-95|APAS-95]] to the International Docking System Standard. IDA-1 was planned to be launched on [[SpaceX CRS-7]] until its launch failure, and attached to Node-2's forward PMA.<ref name=Hartman/><ref name=launchdate>((cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/ISS-USOS-Program-Status-NAC-Public-July-2014.pdf|title=Status of the ISS USOS|last=Hartman|first=Daniel|date=July 2014|publisher=NASA Advisory Council HEOMD Committee|access-date=26 October 2014|archive-date=February 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218101921/https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/ISS-USOS-Program-Status-NAC-Public-July-2014.pdf|url-status=dead))</ref> IDA-2 was launched on [[SpaceX CRS-9]] and attached to Node-2's forward PMA.<ref name=Hartman/><ref name=launchdate/> IDA-3, the replacement for IDA-1 launched on [[SpaceX CRS-18]] and attached to Node-2's zenith PMA.<ref>((cite web |title=United States Commercial ELV Launch Manifest |url=http://www.sworld.com.au/steven/space/uscom-man.txt |first=Steven |last=Pietrobon |date=August 20, 2018 |access-date=August 21, 2018))</ref> The adapter is compatible with the International Docking System Standard (IDSS), which is an attempt by the ISS Multilateral Coordination Board to create a docking standard.<ref>((cite web|url=http://commercialcrew.nasa.gov/document_file_get.cfm?docid=107|title=Commercial Crew Program: Key Drving Requirements Walkthrough|last=Bayt|first=Rob|date=2011-07-26|publisher=NASA|access-date=27 July 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328055242/http://commercialcrew.nasa.gov/document_file_get.cfm?docid=107|archive-date=28 March 2012))</ref>
*APAS to SSVP: Converts passive Hybrid Docking System to passive SSVP-G4000.<ref>((Cite web|title=Новости. "Прогресс МС-17" освободил место для нового модуля|url=https://www.roscosmos.ru/33452/|access-date=2021-11-27|website=www.roscosmos.ru))</ref> The docking ring initially used for [[Soyuz MS-18]] and [[Progress MS-17]] docking on Nauka until detached by Progress MS-17 for Prichal module arrived on ISS.<ref>((Cite web|title=Новости. Новый модуль вошел в состав российского сегмента МКС|url=https://www.roscosmos.ru/33473/|access-date=2021-11-27|website=www.roscosmos.ru))</ref> This adapter is termed as '''SSPA-GM'''. It was made for the Nauka nadir and Prichal nadir ports of the International Space Station, where Soyuz and Progress spacecraft had to dock to a port designated for modules. Before removal of SSPA-GM, the docking ring is ((cvt|80|cm)) in diameter; that becomes ((cvt|120|cm)) after removal.

<gallery class="center" perrow="5">
File:Apollo-soyuz cropped.jpg|ASTP Docking Module
File:Space Shuttle docked to station - further cropped and rotated.jpg|Pressurized Mating Adapter
File:IDA attached to PMA.png|International Docking Adapter
File:1637984492234 Progress MS 17 undocking and Nauka nadir temporary docking adapter Removal 02.jpg|APAS to SSVP (SSVPA-GM) Docking Ring
</gallery>

==Docking of uncrewed spacecraft==
[[File:Hubble Space Telescope Final Mission.png|thumb|The Soft-Capture Mechanism (SCM) added in 2009 to the [[Hubble Space Telescope]]. The SCM allows both crewed and uncrewed spacecraft that utilize the [[NASA Docking System]] (NDS) to dock with Hubble.]]

For the first fifty years of spaceflight, the main objective of most ''docking'' and ''berthing'' missions was to transfer crew, construct or resupply a space station, or to test for such a mission (e.g. the docking between [[Kosmos 186 and Kosmos 188]]). Therefore, commonly at least one of the participating spacecraft was crewed, with a pressurized habitable volume (e.g. a space station or a lunar lander) being the target—the exceptions were a few fully uncrewed Soviet docking missions (e.g. the dockings of Kosmos 1443 and Progress 23 to an uncrewed [[Salyut 7]] or [[Progress M1-5]] to an uncrewed ''[[Mir]]''). Another exception were a few missions of the crewed US [[Space Shuttle]]s, like berthings of the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] (HST) during the five HST servicing missions. The Japanese [[ETS-VII]] mission (nicknamed ''Hikoboshi'' and ''Orihime'') in 1997 was designed to test uncrewed rendezvous and docking, but launched as one spacecraft which separated to join back together.

Changes to the crewed aspect began in 2015, as a number of economically driven commercial dockings of uncrewed spacecraft were planned. In 2011, two commercial spacecraft providers((which|date=March 2019))  announced plans to provide [[Autonomous robot|autonomous]]/[[Teleoperation|teleoperated]] [[uncrewed resupply spacecraft]] for servicing other uncrewed spacecraft. Notably, both of these servicing spacecraft were intending to dock with satellites that weren't designed for docking, nor for in-space servicing.

The early business model for these services was primarily in near-[[geosynchronous]] orbit, although [[delta-v|large delta-v]] [[orbital maneuver]]ing services were also envisioned.<ref name="av20110321" />

Building off of the 2007 [[Orbital Express]] mission—a [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]]-sponsored mission to test in-space satellite servicing with two vehicles designed from the ground up for on-orbit refueling and subsystem replacement—two companies announced plans for commercial satellite servicing missions that would require docking of two uncrewed vehicles.

* [[Space Infrastructure Servicing]] (SIS) is a [[spacecraft]] that was being developed by [[Canada|Canadian]] aerospace firm [[MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates]] (MDA)—maker of [[Canadarm]]—to operate as a small-scale in-space [[propellant depot|refueling depot]] for [[communication satellites]] in [[geosynchronous orbit]]. [[Intelsat]] was a [[Product requirements document|requirements]] and [[Project finance|funding]] partner for the initial demonstration satellite, intended for launch in 2015.<ref name="cnw20110315">((cite web |title=Intelsat Picks MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. for Satellite Servicing |url=http://www.canadanewswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2011/15/c2866.html |work=press release |publisher=CNW Group |access-date=2011-03-15 |quote=''MDA planned to launch its Space Infrastructure Servicing ("SIS") vehicle into near geosynchronous orbit, where it would service commercial and government satellites in need of additional fuel, re-positioning or other maintenance. The first refueling mission was to be available 3.5 years following the commencement of the build phase. ... The services provided by MDA to Intelsat under this agreement are valued at more than US$280 million.'' |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110512175952/http://www.canadanewswire.ca/en/releases/archive/March2011/15/c2866.html |archive-date=2011-05-12 |url-status=dead ))</ref><ref name="sn20110314">
((cite news |last=de Selding|first=Peter B. |title=Intelsat Signs Up for Satellite Refueling Service |url=http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/intelsat-signs-for-satellite-refueling-service.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120524111321/http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/intelsat-signs-for-satellite-refueling-service.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 24, 2012 |access-date=2011-03-15  |newspaper=Space News |date=2011-03-14 |quote=''if the MDA spacecraft performed as planned, Intelsat would pay a total of some $200 million to MDA. This assumed that four or five satellites would be given around 200 kilograms each of fuel.''))</ref>

* [[Mission Extension Vehicle]] (MEV)<ref name="vs20110328">((cite web |title=ViviSat Corporate Overview |url=http://www.usspacellc.com/in-orbit-servicing/vivisat |work=company website |publisher=ViviSat |access-date=2011-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124183419/http://www.usspacellc.com/in-orbit-servicing/vivisat |archive-date=2018-01-24 |url-status=dead ))</ref> was a [[spacecraft]] being developed in 2011 by the [[United States|U.S. firm]] [[ViviSat]], a 50/50 joint venture of aerospace firms [[U.S. Space]] and [[Alliant Techsystems|ATK]], to operate as a small-scale in-space [[propellant depot|satellite-refueling spacecraft]].<ref name="av20110321">
((cite news |last=Morring|first=Frank Jr. |title=An End to Space Trash? |url=http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/awst/2011/03/21/AW_03_21_2011_p23-297586.xml&headline=An%20End%20to%20Space%20Trash?&channel=awst |access-date=2011-03-21 |newspaper=Aviation Week |date=2011-03-22 |quote=''ViviSat, a new 50-50 joint venture of U.S. Space and ATK, is marketing a satellite-refueling spacecraft that connects to a target spacecraft using the same probe-in-the-kick-motor approach as MDA, but does not transfer its fuel. Instead, the vehicle becomes a new fuel tank, using its own thrusters to supply attitude control for the target. ... [the ViviSat] concept is not as far along as MDA. ... In addition to extending the life of an out-of-fuel satellite, the company could also rescue fueled spacecraft like [[AEHF-1]] by docking with it in its low orbit, using its own motor and fuel to place it in the right orbit, and then moving to another target.''))</ref>  MEV would dock but would not transfer fuel. Rather it would use "[[reaction control system|its own thrusters]] to supply [[Spacecraft attitude control|attitude control]] for the target."<ref name="av20110321" />

The SIS and MEV vehicles each planned to use a different docking technique.
SIS planned to utilize a ring attachment around the [[apogee kick motor|kick motor]]<ref name="sn20110318">
((cite news
 |last=de Selding 
 |first=Peter B. 
 |title=Intelsat Signs Up for MDA's Satellite Refueling Service 
 |url=http://www.sbv.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/110318intelsat-signs-for-mdas-satellite-refueling-service.html 
 |access-date=2011-03-20 
 |newspaper=Space News 
 |date=2011-03-18 
 |quote=''more than 40 different types of fueling systems ... SIS will be carrying enough tools to open 75 percent of the fueling systems aboard satellites now in geostationary orbit. ... MDA will launch the SIS servicer, which will rendezvous and dock with the Intelsat satellite, attaching itself to the ring around the satellite's apogee-boost motor. With ground teams governing the movements, the SIS robotic arm will reach through the nozzle of the apogee motor to find and unscrew the satellite's fuel cap. The SIS vehicle will reclose the fuel cap after delivering the agreed amount of propellant and then head to its next mission. ... Key to the business model is MDA's ability to launch replacement fuel canisters that would be grappled by SIS and used to refuel dozens of satellites over a period of years. These canisters would be much lighter than the SIS vehicle and thus much less expensive to launch. '' 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120321160118/http://www.sbv.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/110318intelsat-signs-for-mdas-satellite-refueling-service.html
 |archive-date=2012-03-21
))</ref>
while the Mission Extension Vehicle would use a somewhat more standard insert-a-probe-into-the-nozzle-of-the-kick-motor approach.<ref name="av20110321" />

A prominent spacecraft that received a mechanism for uncrewed dockings is the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] (HST). In 2009 the [[STS-125]] shuttle mission added the Soft-Capture Mechanism (SCM) at the aft bulkhead of the space telescope. The SCM is meant for unpressurized dockings and will be used at the end of Hubble's service lifetime to dock an uncrewed spacecraft to de-orbit Hubble. The SCM used was designed to be compatible to the [[NASA Docking System]] (NDS) interface to reserve the possibility of a servicing mission.<ref name="softcap">((cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/servicing/SM4/main/SCRS_FS_HTML.html|title=The Soft Capture and Rendezvous System|access-date=May 22, 2009|publisher=NASA|year=2008|author=NASA|archive-date=September 11, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080911224222/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/servicing/SM4/main/SCRS_FS_HTML.html|url-status=dead))</ref>
The SCM will, compared to the system used during the five HST Servicing Missions to capture and berth the HST to the Space Shuttle,((Citation needed|date=August 2012|reason=Citation needed for the previous system; The rest of the sentence is from the "softcap" citation.))
significantly reduce the rendezvous and capture design complexities associated with such missions. The NDS bears some resemblance to the APAS-95 mechanism, but is not compatible with it.<ref name="NDSdraft">((cite web|url=http://dockingstandard.nasa.gov/Documents/AIAA_ATS_NDS-IDSS_Overview_Draft1.pdf|title=Overview of the NASA Docking System and the International Docking System Standard|last=Parma|first=George|date=2011-05-20|publisher=NASA|access-date=11 April 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111015075220/http://dockingstandard.nasa.gov/Documents/AIAA_ATS_NDS-IDSS_Overview_Draft1.pdf|archive-date=15 October 2011))</ref>

==Non-cooperative docking==

Docking with a spacecraft (or other man made space object) that does not have an operable attitude control system might sometimes be desirable, either in order to salvage it, or to initiate a controlled [[Atmospheric entry|de-orbit]]. Some theoretical techniques for docking with non-cooperative spacecraft have been proposed so far.<ref name=ieee200610>((cite book |last=Ma |first=Zhanhua |author2=Ma, Ou |author3=Shashikanth, Banavara |title=2006 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems |chapter=Optimal Control for Spacecraft to Rendezvous with a Tumbling Satellite in a Close Range |name-list-style=amp |chapter-url=http://mae.nmsu.edu/~oma/Papers/Paper_Optimal_Ctrl_IROS06.pdf |date=October 2006 |pages=4109–4114 |doi=10.1109/IROS.2006.281877 |isbn=1-4244-0258-1 |s2cid=12165186 |access-date=2011-08-09 |quote=''One of the most challenging tasks for satellite on-orbit servicing is to rendezvous and capture a non-cooperative satellite such as a tumbling satellite.'' |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605184656/http://mae.nmsu.edu/~oma/Papers/Paper_Optimal_Ctrl_IROS06.pdf |archive-date=2013-06-05 ))</ref><!-- Ma et al. assume a standardized "docking interface" exists on each spacecraft; see pp 4109. --> Yet, with the sole exception of the [[Soyuz T-13]] mission to salvage the crippled [[Salyut 7]] space station, ((as of|2006|lc=y))<!-- 2006 is the date of the source -->, all spacecraft dockings in the first fifty years of spaceflight had been accomplished with vehicles where both spacecraft involved were under either piloted, autonomous or telerobotic [[Spacecraft attitude control|attitude control]].<ref name=ieee200610/>
In 2007, however, a demonstration mission was flown that included an initial [[flight test|test]] of a [[NEXTSat|non-cooperative spacecraft]]<!-- in the literature on this subject, "non-cooperative" does not mean "uncooperative"; it merely means that the non-cooperative spacecraft is orbiting with no active attitude control underway by the spacecraft, and no intent to assist in the capture. --> captured by a [[ASTRO (satellite)|controlled spacecraft]] with the use of a robotic arm.<ref name=sfn20070704/>
Research and modeling work continues to support additional [[autonomous robot|autonomous]] [[noncooperative capture]] missions in the coming years.<ref name=xu201009>((cite journal|last1=Xu|first1=Wenfu|title=Autonomous rendezvous and robotic capturing of non-cooperative target in space|journal=Robotica|date=September 2010|volume=28|issue=5|pages=705–718|doi=10.1017/S0263574709990397|s2cid=43527059|url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=7871150&fileId=S0263574709990397|access-date=2014-11-16))</ref><ref name=yoshida2004>((cite journal|last1=Yoshida|first1=Kazuya|title=Dynamics, control and impedance matching for robotic capture of a non-cooperative satellite|journal=Advanced Robotics|date=2004|volume=18|issue=2|pages=175–198|doi=10.1163/156855304322758015|s2cid=33288798))</ref>

===Salyut 7 space station salvage mission===
((main|Soyuz T-13))
((multiple image
| align = right
| image1 = USSR stamp Soyuz-27 1978 4k.jpg
| width1 = 150
| alt1 = 
| caption1 = Commander Vladimir Dzhanibekov (left) with [[Oleg Grigoryevich Makarov]] (right) on a 1978 Soviet postage stamp
| image2 = 1981. Союз-Т4 - Салют-6. В.В. Коваленюк, В.П. Савиных (3).jpg
| width2 = 200
| alt2 = 
| caption2 = Doctor of technical sciences [[Viktor Savinykh]] with [[Vladimir Kovalyonok]] pictured on a Soviet postage stamp commemorating a [[Salyut 6]] mission
| footer = 
))
[[Salyut 7]], the tenth space station of any kind launched, and [[Soyuz T-13]] were docked in what author David S. F. Portree describes as "one of the most impressive feats of in-space repairs in history".<ref name=Mir/> Solar tracking failed and due to a telemetry fault the station did not report the failure to mission control while flying autonomously. Once the station ran out of electrical energy reserves it ceased communication abruptly in February 1985. Crew scheduling was interrupted to allow Soviet military commander [[Vladimir Dzhanibekov]]<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/d/dzhanibekov.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211015153/http://www.astronautix.com/d/dzhanibekov.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 11, 2016 |title=Dzhanibekov |publisher=Astronautix.com |access-date=August 5, 2013 ))</ref> and technical science flight engineer [[Viktor Savinykh]]<ref>((cite web |url=http://www.astronautix.com/s/savinykh.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161211015505/http://www.astronautix.com/s/savinykh.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 11, 2016 |title=Savinykh |publisher=Astronautix.com |access-date=August 5, 2013))</ref> to make emergency repairs.

All Soviet and Russian space stations were equipped with automatic rendezvous and docking systems, from the first space station Salyut 1 using the IGLA system, to the [[Russian Orbital Segment]] of the [[International Space Station]] using the [[Kurs (docking system)|Kurs]] system. The Soyuz crew found the station was not broadcasting radar or telemetry for rendezvous, and after arrival and external inspection of the tumbling station, the crew judged proximity using handheld laser rangefinders.

Dzhanibekov piloted his ship to intercept the forward port of Salyut 7, matched the station's rotation and achieved soft dock with the station. After achieving hard dock they confirmed that the station's electrical system was dead. Prior to opening the hatch, Dzhanibekov and Savinykh sampled the condition of the station's atmosphere and found it satisfactory. Attired in winter fur-lined clothing, they entered the cold station to conduct repairs. Within a week sufficient systems were brought back online to allow robot cargo ships to dock with the station. Nearly two months went by before atmospheric conditions on the space station were normalized.<ref name=Mir/>
<!-- Will be moved to another section. Work in progress, see here [[User:Tony Mach/Spacecraft docking and berthing mechanisms]]
No crewed United States spacecraft have ever been equipped with non-experimental automated rendezvous and docking equipment.((cn|date=August 2012)) 
-->

===Uncrewed dockings of non-cooperative space objects===
((Globalize|article|USA|2name=the United States|date=March 2016))
[[File:Orbital Express 2.png|thumb|left|Orbital Express: ASTRO (left) and NEXTSat (right), 2007]]

Non-cooperative rendezvous and capture techniques have been theorized, and [[Orbital Express|one mission]] has successfully been performed with uncrewed spacecraft in orbit.<ref name=sfn20070704>
((cite news |last=Clark|first=Stephen |title=In-space satellite servicing tests come to an end |url=http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0707/04orbitalexpress/ |access-date=2014-03-20 |newspaper=Spaceflight Now |date=2007-07-04 ))</ref>

A typical approach for solving this problem involves two phases. First, [[Spacecraft attitude control|attitude]] and [[Orbit (dynamics)|orbital]] changes are made to the "chaser" spacecraft until it has zero relative motion with the "target" spacecraft. Second, docking maneuvers commence that are similar to traditional cooperative spacecraft docking. A standardized docking interface on each spacecraft is assumed.<ref name=nmsu2008>
((cite web |title=Optimal Control of Rendezvous and Docking with a Non-Cooperative Satellite |url=http://mae.nmsu.edu/~oma/Posters/Satellite_RnD_Ma.pdf |publisher=New Mexico State University |quote=''Most of the current research and all the past missions are aiming at capturing very cooperative satellites only. In the future, we may also need to capture non-cooperative satellites such as the ones tumbling in space or not designed for being captured.'' |access-date=2011-07-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605175755/http://mae.nmsu.edu/~oma/Posters/Satellite_RnD_Ma.pdf |archive-date=2013-06-05 ))</ref>

NASA has identified automated and autonomous rendezvous and docking — the ability of two spacecraft to rendezvous and dock "operating independently from human controllers and without other back-up, [and which requires technology] advances in sensors, software, and [[Real-time Control System|realtime]] [[Orbital station-keeping|on-orbit positioning]] and [[Attitude control (spacecraft)#Attitude control algorithms|flight control]], among other challenges" — as a critical technology to the "ultimate success of capabilities such as in-orbit [[propellant depot|propellant storage and refueling]]," and also for complex operations in assembling mission components for interplanetary destinations.<ref name="nasa20100525">((cite web|last=Tooley|first=Craig|title=A New Space Enterprise of Exploration|url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/458813main_FTD_AutomatedAutonomousRendezvousAndDockingVehicleOverview.pdf|date=2010-05-25|publisher=NASA|access-date=2012-06-25))</ref>

The Automated/Autonomous Rendezvous & Docking Vehicle (ARDV) is a proposed [[Flagship technology demonstrations|NASA Flagship Technology Demonstration]] (FTD) mission, for flight as early as 2014/2015. An important NASA objective on the proposed mission is to advance the technology and demonstrate automated rendezvous and docking. One mission element defined in the 2010 analysis was the development of a laser proximity operations sensor that could be used for non-cooperative vehicles at distances between ((convert|1|m)) and ((convert|3|km|sigfig=1|sp=us)). Non-cooperative docking mechanisms were identified as critical mission elements to the success of such autonomous missions.<ref name="nasa20100525" />

[[Grapple Fixture|Grappling]] and connecting to non-cooperative space objects was identified as a top technical challenge in the 2010 NASA Robotics, tele-robotics and autonomous systems roadmap.<ref name=nasa201011>((cite web|last=Ambrose|first=Rob|title=Robotics, Tele-Robotics and Autonomous systems Roadmap (Draft)|url=http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/501622main_TA04-Robotics-DRAFT-Nov2010-A.pdf|date=November 2010|publisher=NASA|access-date=2012-06-25|quote=''A smaller common docking system for robotic spacecraft is also needed to enable robotic spacecraft AR&D within the capture envelopes of these systems. Assembly of the large vehicles and stages used for beyond LEO exploration missions will require new mechanisms with new capture envelopes beyond any docking system currently used or in development. Development and testing of autonomous robotic capture of non-cooperative target vehicles in which the target does not have capture aids such as grapple fixtures or docking mechanisms is needed to support satellite servicing/rescue.''))</ref>

==Docking states==
((Unreferenced section|date=November 2020))

A docking/berthing connection is referred to as either "soft" or "hard". Typically, a spacecraft first initiates a ''soft dock'' by making contact and latching its docking connector with that of the target vehicle. Once the soft connection is secured, if both spacecraft are pressurized, they may proceed to a ''hard dock'' where the docking mechanisms form an airtight seal, enabling interior hatches to be safely opened so that crew and cargo can be transferred.

==Berthing spacecraft and modules==
Docking and undocking describe spacecraft using a docking port, without assistance and under their own power. Berthing takes place when a spacecraft or unpowered module cannot use a docking port or requires assistance to use one. This assistance may come from a spacecraft, such as when the [[Space Shuttle]] used its robotic arm to push ISS modules into their permanent berths. In a similar fashion the [[Poisk (ISS module)|Poisk module]] was permanently berthed to a docking port after it was pushed into place by a [[Progress M-MIM2|modified Progress spacecraft]] which was then discarded. The [[Cygnus (spacecraft)|Cygnus resupply spacecraft]] arriving at the ISS does not connect to a [[Androgynous Peripheral Attach System#APAS-95|docking port]], instead it is pulled into a berthing mechanism by the station's robotic arm and the station then closes the connection. The [[common berthing mechanism|berthing mechanism]] is used only on the [[US Orbital Segment|US segment]] of the ISS, the [[Russian Orbital Segment|Russian segment]] of the ISS uses [[Androgynous Peripheral Attach System#APAS-95|docking ports]] for permanent berths.

==Mars surface docking==
[[File:Small Pressurized Rover- components.jpg|right|400px|SEV components]]

Docking has been discussed by NASA in regards to a [[Crewed Mars rover]], such as with [[Mars habitat]] or ascent stage.<ref name=SEVC-2010>((Cite web |url=https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/464826main_SEV_Concept_FactSheet.pdf |title=''Space Exploration Vehicle Concept'' 2010 |access-date=August 17, 2018 |archive-date=September 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925204215/https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/464826main_SEV_Concept_FactSheet.pdf |url-status=dead ))</ref> The [[Space Exploration Vehicle|Martian surface vehicle]] (and surface habitats) would have a large rectangular docking hatch, approximately ((convert|2|by|1|m|ft|sp=us)).<ref name="SEVC-2010" />((Failed verification|date=October 2020))

== Gallery ==
<gallery>
ISS undocking - Timelapse 01 - 20180328 034651 547.gif|Timelapse of undocking of a [[Soyuz (spacecraft)|Soyuz spacecraft]] from the [[International Space Station]]
</gallery>

==References==
((Reflist))

((Spacecraft Docking Systems))

[[Category:Spacecraft docking systems| ]]
[[Category:Space rendezvous]]
[[Category:Spacecraft components]]

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